Breaking the Bells
by realornotreal22
Summary: This is an extension of the "Wanna help me break the bells?" scene between Luke and Lorelai in season 4. Please read and review!
1. Electrifying

_Author's Note: This is an extension of the scene where Luke and Lorelai go to break the bells. I was informed that it's season 4...lol Should've known that seeing as Luke was with Nicole. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or the first few lines of dialogue in italics. _

_-- _

"_It's absolutely my business!" Lorelai yelled. _

"_How?" Luke asked, incredulous. _

"_Because! I wasted a week of my life adjusting to the idea that you had moved, only to find out that you haven't moved!" _

"_How much adjusting did you have to do? Nothing's changed! I still see you everyday, I still cook your food, I still serve your coffee. What do you care?" Luke asked._

"_I care." She said quietly._

"_Why?" _

"_Because I don't want you to move." Lorelai said, voice barely above a whisper. _

"_Why? Why don't you want me to move?" He asked, staring determinedly into her eyes. _

"Because-" She sighed frustratingly and cut off, taking a deep breath in the process. "Because you're moving in with _Nicole_!"

Luke clenched his jaw in impatience. He fixed his incredulous stare on her before continuing.

"Why don't you like Nicole??" He asked, trying to keep his anger in check.

"I like Nicole fine!" Lorelai yelled, balling her hands into fists.

"Obviously you don't or you wouldn't have a problem with me moving in with her!" He yelled back.

"Ah!" She groaned loudly. "It's not that I don't like Nicole. It's just that I don't-I don't think that she's good enough for you."

Luke sighed and shook his head slowly. He furrowed his brows and scratched his head.

"How is she not good enough for me? What's wrong with her?"

"What's _wrong_ with her?" She repeated.

"Yes. What's wrong with her that makes you think she's not good enough for me?" He asked again.

"What's wrong with her? You wanna know what's wrong with her?! What's wrong with her is that she's not _me_! _That's_ what's wrong with her!"

Lorelai took a deep breath, her voice trembling as the air left her lungs. Her blue eyes widened in shock as she processed the words that came out of her mouth. Luke stared at her, seemingly shocked into submission.

"Shit." She whispered just before turning on her heal and fleeing the scene. As she began to take off, she was surprised to find a hand gently grab her upper arm. He quickly pulled her around to face him, refusing to let her get away that easily. He took a step toward her, desperately hoping to close the gap between them. And as he leaned down to kiss her, she stopped him with four simple words.

"What are you doing?" She asked, trying to step back.

He placed a finger to her lips and shook his head, not breaking eye contact.

"Don't ruin this." He whispered, with authority.

She smiled at the feel of his finger on her lips, not really comprehending his words. She stood still as his lips crashed onto hers. Within seconds, she wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands found their place on her back. The Church around them seemed to dissolve as he deepened the kiss, completely taking control. She literally melted within his embrace as the kiss deepened even more. Keeping their arms around each other, they pulled their lips apart, for the need of oxygen became too great. Luke leaned his forehead against hers, breathing rather rapidly. Lorelai tried to steady her breathing as she gently played with the hair on the base of his neck. He leaned down to kiss her again, but she stopped him by placing a hand on his chest.

"Luke…" She whispered, finally looking into his eyes.

"What?" He asked, fearing that she'd changed her mind already.

"We can't-we can't do this." She said, gingerly fingering his plaid shirt.

"Why? I thought-"

"Nicole." She cut him off. "We can't do this while you're with Nicole."

He rubbed his hand up and down her back, unintentionally sending shivers along her spine. He sighed, placing his forehead against hers again.

"I know…" He whispered, seemingly somewhat defeated.

"We can't do this while you're with her. I can't be the other woman. I can't be apart of that tawdry affair where the girl knows she's helping the guy cheat. I can't. And I won't." Lorelai said, forcing him to meet her piercing stare.

"Yeah, I know. I would never ask you to be. I'll go talk to her."

They both nodded, not wanting to break that feeling of absolute comfort by moving from within their embrace.

"Luke." She whispered, still with that breathless air. "Don't break up with Nicole…"

"What? You _don't_ want me to break up with her? Then what's this?" He asked, indicating to the soul searing embrace.

"Will you let me finish?? I wasn't done talking!" She said.

"What? You _finished _speaking!" He retorted.

"No, Mr. Jump-the-gun, I did not. I was _breathing_. We did just share an absolutely _amazing_ kiss. Breathing is essential after something like that."

He smiled and shook his head, telling her to finish with a nod.

"Don't break up with her for me. Don't break up with her if you really have deep feelings for her. I don't want you to make a mistake by choosing me. I don't want you to feel cheated or end up blaming me later because you were supposed to be with Nicole."

"Lorelai. Do you have any idea how long I've wanted this to happen?" He asked.

"Probably about as long as me, but I don't want you to give up something that you have now for something you think _might_ be better."

"No. I _know_ that you're better. I _know_ that we're supposed to be together. That fact has kept me from truly being in a worthwhile relationship. I've always known that it's supposed to be you. Just you." He said adamantly.

"Luke…" She whispered.

"You know why Rachel left?" He asked.

She shook her head slowly, wondering where that had come from.

"She left because she knew that I had feelings for you. She knew that it wasn't going to last between us because of my feelings for you. She knew it even before I did."

"I know…I heard it through the grapevine that we're supposed to be together."

Luke laughed and nodded.

"I just want you to think about it, okay? Promise me that you'll think about it before you make a decision."

Luke sighed and shook his head again as if saying _"This is insane, I don't need to think about it." _He finally nodded, meeting her gaze.

"I promise." He whispered.

"Good. I have to go." She said and turned toward the door, only to be stopped by a hand grasping hers.

"Luke." She looked into his eyes. "We can't."

She shook her head before lifting his hand to her mouth and pressing a quick kiss to the back of it. He nodded and grazed her knuckles with his thumb before letting go. She turned and made her way toward the doors, grabbing her purse as she went. As she reached the doors, she turned back to him.

"Don't forget to break the bells. I'll have to hunt you down if I hear those damn things one more time." She stuck her tongue out at him and smiled just before heading out the door.

He stood where she'd left him, smile upon his face. He sighed and bit his lip before retrieving his tools and making his way to the stairs, ready to break the bells.


	2. Snow Covered Worries

_Author's Note: Here's another chapter for this story. I'll probably have one more chapter after this. Please read and review!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot…unfortunately_

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Lorelai quickly made her way down the snow covered street, hugging her jacket tighter over her chest as she went. So many thoughts ran through her mind as the church slowly disappeared behind the thick stream of white. Snow flitted down from the heavens, expertly dotting her dark brown hair with frozen white specks. She continued to place one large boot in front of the other, picking up the pace in the hope of getting home before the snow reached her jeans. As her house came into view, she gasped in relief when she saw Rory's car parked in the driveway. She stepped onto the pearly white area that she knew to be her lawn and practically flew to the door. She wrenched it open, her gloved hands only slipping slightly on the brass knob, and ran inside the house.

"Rory!" She yelled loudly just before she shook the snow off in a very dog- like fashion.

She made her way to the kitchen, trying to pull her scarf off as she went.

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore! You better be here somewhere!" She yelled again, choking slightly as the knotted scarf tightened around her neck as opposed to loosening, as was her intent.

"Mom! I'm right here, what's wrong?"

Rory came into view with slightly flushed cheeks. She hurriedly strolled over to Lorelai to rescue her before she was hanged by her scarf. Rory shot her Mom a worried look before ushering her to the nearest chair and sitting her down on it.

"Are you okay? You're even more uncoordinated than usual." Rory asked as she sat down in the chair next to her.

"I kissed Luke." She blurted out before shrugging out of her jacket.

Rory's jaw dropped noticeably at her mother's words. She blinked repeatedly, letting the statement wash over her.

"What?" Rory demanded.

"I kissed Luke. Or, he kissed me and I kissed him back. I dunno. We kissed. I suppose that's easier to grasp than he kissed me or I kissed him or he kissed me and I-"

"You and Luke kissed???" Rory interrupted Lorelai's tirade.

"Yes." She admitted.

"Omg! Really?! Finally! When?! How was it??" Rory practically screamed.

"Whoa! Gimme a second here, Kid. It just happened." Lorelai said, taking in a deep breath as she placed a hand on her daughter's arm to stall her.

Rory waited, eyeing her mother impatiently.

"Mom! You cannot drop a bomb like that and stop talking!" Rory shrieked.

"Oh, sorry. I was…thinking. What'd you say, Hon?" Lorelai asked, literally shaking the picture of her and Luke from her mind like an etch-e-sketch.

"What happened??" Rory asked, gesturing frantically with her hands.

Lorelai sighed and proceeded to describe the scene to her in great detail. Rory's jaw dropped in the beginning of the retelling and stayed agape throughout.

"Oh wow…" Rory whispered.

"I know…" Lorelai whispered.

"Wait, what about Nicole?" Rory asked, for they both had momentarily forgotten that Luke was married.

Lorelai took at deep breath and hung her head, focusing her eyes on her clasped hands upon the kitchen table.

"I told him not to break up with her unless it's what he truly wants."

"Well, of course it's what he wants." Rory said without hesitation.

"You don't know that." Lorelai protested.

"Yes, I do. I've seen the way he looks at you, the way he _flirts _with you. It is definitely what he wants." Rory said.

"Rory, stop."

"Why? You don't believe me? I mean, he did kiss you. He wouldn't have done that if he didn't wanna be with you." Rory reasoned.

"He only kissed me because I told him that I wanted him…" Lorelai admitted.

"Which proves that he really does want to be with you."

"How does that prove that?" Lorelai asked.

"You know Luke. He wouldn't make a move unless he knows how you feel. I mean, for all he knew, you were with someone else. You don't exactly tell him about your relationships, you know." Rory reminded her gently.

"Yeah, I know…but I wanna make sure he does what's good for him."

"But Mom…what about you?" Rory asked.

Lorelai's blue eyes met her daughter's piercing stare. She smiled and shook her head.

"Don't worry about me, Hon. I want Luke to make the decision for himself. I told him to stay with Nicole if he has strong feelings for her. And if he stays with her…then everything will just go back to normal." Lorelai said, trying to sound nonchalant.

Rory took Lorelai's hand in hers and placed a comforting look on her face.

"He'll choose you. He's been in love with you for years." Rory reassured her.

"Rory, I don't want him to just choose me because he _thinks _he's in love with me." Lorelai said, releasing Rory's hand before standing. "I don't want him letting go of something good because he _thinks _there's something better. I don't want him to hate me later if this ends up being a mistake…"

Rory stood and walked over to the kitchen counter where her mother stood. She placed her pale hands on her Mother's cheeks and stared into her glistening eyes.

"It's _not _a mistake. Trust me. I think, as does the whole town, that you and Luke would be _great _together." Rory said. "This is a good thing."

"Yeah…I hope so." Lorelai whispered.

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_I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!_


	3. The Spotlight is Ours

_Author's Note: Here's the last chapter to this short story. I hope you like it._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. _

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Luke leaned against the diner's counter, chin in hand, staring at the floating specks that had ultimately turned the town white hours before. He was trying desperately to keep his promise, even though he found the whole contemplation futile. Despite the fact that he'd tried to deny it, he'd known for years that Lorelai was the woman for him. It was the reason he kept that stupid horoscope in his wallet, the reason he kept up with her little childish games, the reason he'd do anything for her and Rory. He thought back to when he first saw her; she'd been running down the street, long and wavy brown hair flying behind her, clutching the hand of a small child wearing fairy wings and waving her wand back and forth. He remembered all too well the feeling he'd had; that sense of absolute euphoria as she dashed past him toward the elementary school. He smiled as he saw Rory dancing along side her mother, as though a song were playing in her mind. His heart had known then that he belonged in that family; it was too bad it took him so much longer to figure it out himself.

He glanced at the clock and sighed. _This is ridiculous. _He thought._ I'm not putting it off any longer. _He reached for the phone hanging on the wall and dialed; hesitating slightly to remember the unfamiliar number. He leaned his back against the counter as he waited for the ringing to discontinue. When the line clicked to life, he was surprised to hear a male voice answer.

"Hello?"

"Uh…is…_Nicole _there?" He hesitated.

"Yep. Can I ask who's calling?" The voice answered, completely at ease.

"Sure. Tell her it's her husband." He said.

The unidentified male inhaled deeply before continuing.

"Um…yeah." He gulped rather loudly. "H-here she is."

Luke waited as muffled movement and whispers filled the silence.

"Luke?" Nicole asked.

"Uh yeah. You couldn't possibly be expecting anyone else, right?…Sorry if I spoiled your evening. It sounds like your male friend was pretty flustered when I informed him that I was your husband." Luke said sarcastically.

"It's…not what you think." Nicole lied horribly.

Luke laughed mercilessly at that.

"Sure it isn't. That's fine, Nicole. We both knew this wasn't gonna work out. Deep down, we both knew. I just wish you had the courtesy to call or tell me that it was over before cheating on me." He said.

"I'm sorry…" She trailed off.

"Yeah, sure. I was actually gonna end it right now, but you've already done that for me. I'll mail those divorce papers in the morning."

"Luke…are you sure we can't-"

He cut her off with snort.

"No. I finally went for it with Lorelai and it turns out she feels the same way. This is over. I'll pick up the few things I've got over at your place when I have the time. You don't need to come back to Stars Hollow." Luke said in a hard voice.

"Okay…" She whispered.

"Bye Nicole." Luke hung up the phone before she could say bye back.

Without thinking, he grabbed his jacket and gloves before rushing out of the diner. He locked the door behind him and quickly made his way to Lorelai's. He moved as fast as he could through the knee deep snow, stopping only when he reached her house. He stepped onto the porch and shook off as much snow as he could before reaching his gloved hand toward the door. Before he could knock, he heard a muffled sound coming from the side of the house. It didn't take him long to realize that it was a person.

"Shit." The voice cursed.

Luke smiled automatically, having had that voice engrained in his memory for years. He listened intently as he descended the porch steps and followed the sound of her voice.

"Stupid crap shack." She muttered.

He laughed quietly as he rounded the corner. He found her in front of the electrical box, leaning over with a large flashlight in her hand. Before he could ask what she was up to, she slipped on the brick she was standing on and fell, butt first, into the snow. Frozen pearly mush flew in all directions. He broke into a bout of loud laughter, doubling over when her glare reached his face.

"Will you stop being a jerk and help me up here?" She asked, holding her hand a few inches above the snow level.

"What the hell are you doing?" He choked out, slowly walking toward her.

"I was _trying_ to fix the heat." She said, watching him. "And will you hurry up? It's freezing down here."

Luke chuckled again and bent down to help her up. He easily pulled her out of the snow and began brushing it off her shoulders.

"You know that the heat isn't electrical, right?" He asked, eyebrows raised.

She narrowed her eyes and pointed to the gas gage to the right of the electrical box. He gave her a suspicious look before picking up the flashlight she'd dropped.

"And what exactly were you planning on doing?" He asked as he shined the light on the gas gage.

"I dunno!" She said, knowing exactly what she would've done if Luke hadn't shown up.

"Hitting it solves absolutely nothing." He said.

She huffed and glared at him, hating that he knew her so well. He reached toward the gage and studied it for a few seconds before flicking a switch off to the side. He turned to her and began ushering her inside. She stared at him, not moving.

"What?" He asked.

"That's it? I've been out here for 20 minutes trying to fix that and then you come along and fix it in two seconds? That's it?" She asked, incredulous.

"It was off. I turned it on…" He said as though he were speaking to a mentally challenged person.

She was stunned into silence and he took that as his chance to push her into the house. As he closed the door behind them, he followed her into the kitchen.

"How'd you know the gas wasn't working? Did you make sure the pilot was lit?" He asked, pertaining to the heater.

"The what now?" She pulled out a cup and poured herself some coffee.

He shook his head and raised his eyebrows, silently asking his first question again.

"Oh…well, the heater wasn't working and I couldn't get it to do anything, so I came into the kitchen and turned the stove on and when I didn't hear it light, I stuck my head in to see if the gas was working. I didn't smell anything so I deduced that the gas _wasn't _working."

Luke stared at her from a chair around her kitchen table.

"You stuck your head…in a stove…that you didn't hear light….?" He asked, incredulous.

"Uh…yeah." She said as though asking _Is there any other way?_

Luke shook his head and sighed loudly.

"You're gonna end up killing yourself and we're all gonna blame ourselves for not putting you in a mental institution." Luke muttered.

"No." She said in a teasing voice before sitting down next to him.

"You know, you coulda called me. Then you wouldn't have had to spend 20 minutes out in the cold like that…" He trailed off.

"Yeah…I just…didn't know where we…stood at the moment, I guess." She looked into his eyes as she finished talking.

He turned his gaze from her face to his hands clasped atop the table.

"It doesn't matter. You can always call me when you need something."

She nodded, lightly stroking the coffee mug in front of her.

"So…what're you doin' here?" She asked gently.

"What do you think I'm doin' here?" He asked back.

Her eyebrows narrowed in confusion. It was rare for Luke to shoot a question back like that.

"Uh…couldn't you just save me the trouble of guessing? I mean, you gotta know that I'm gonna come up with stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with this situation." She said.

He laughed lightly and grinned at her. She laughed as well, slightly stunned by this beautiful smile that he rarely showed anyone. The grins slowly faded from their faces.

"I talked to Nicole." He whispered.

"You…you did?" She asked.

"Yeah…it turns out she was already planning on ending the relationship."

"Really? She said that?"

"Ha, no. Some guy answered the phone. Turned out to be her boyfriend." Luke said without any regret.

"Aw…Luke, I'm sorry." She whispered.

His head snapped up to look at her.

"Why? I'm not. I was just gonna tell her it was over anyway. I've already signed the divorce papers, I just have to get 'em notarized and mail them in the morning."

"Whoa. Luke. Are you sure you're not going too fast here?" She asked.

"Hell no." He smirked. "We weren't supposed to get married or get together for that matter. I don't want Nicole."

Lorelai looked down and bit her lip to prevent a smile from emerging. He reached over and took her hand in his. She looked up then, surprised.

"You were right before. Nicole isn't right for me because she's not you. I don't want Nicole. I want you." He whispered.

They stared into each other's eyes, like blue waves crashing together. Luke leaned in and touched his lips gently against hers. He pulled back and watched as her eyelids fluttered open. She gave him a quizzical look.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked.

He raised his eyebrows at her.

"You're not allowed to kiss me once and pull away." She said.

He laughed before getting up and taking her in his arms, making sure to kiss her multiple times and for lengthy periods as well.

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_I hope you liked it! Review please!_


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